


If You're Gonna Lie

by ash_mcj



Series: Teen Wolf Songfics [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Chris Argent is Peter Hale's Anchor, Established Relationship, Family Issues, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Multi, Secret Relationship, Star-crossed, Teen Wolf, The Hale House, Werewolf Hunters, Young Chris Argent, Young Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Young Peter Hale, petopher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26524693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ash_mcj/pseuds/ash_mcj
Summary: Eighteen-year-old Peter Hale thought his beloved boyfriend was cheating on him. It would have sucked, because he was the first and only person Peter had ever loved, but he would have been okay. They could work it out or something. Move past it. Or not...in that case, he could figure it out, too. He would be okay.It turned out, he wasn't wrong in his suspicions...He just realized it was so much worse than he thought it would be.[or, peter finds out that chris joined the family business]Petopher <3
Relationships: Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Chris Argent/Victoria Argent
Series: Teen Wolf Songfics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928704
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	If You're Gonna Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Songfic to "If You're Gonna Lie" by Fletcher

_I poured you a glass of wine and drank it for the second time  
_ _Then 7 PM turned to 10  
_ _I'm still alone and my lips are red  
_ _But not in a good way_

Peter picked up his phone for what must have been the fifth time that night and opened his text chat with Chris. The messages were still marked as unseen, of course, and he was starting to wonder if his boyfriend was even coming at all.

He looked at the wine glass he’d gotten out for Chris and set it back into the kitchen cabinet, before taking the half-empty bottle of wolfsbane-laced red wine he had stolen from his older sister into his bedroom to finish it alone.

He couldn’t just go upstairs and tell his sister that he was having boy problems, because that would require not only telling her that he was gay, but also who the guy was--which was _not_ an option. Dating an Argent was stupid, even for him, and he knew it. His sister would kill him. He knew she was aware of him sneaking _someone_ into his room every other night, but she never pressed about who it was. She must have figured that Peter was dating someone, but was waiting for him to be public about it.

Peter Hale _was_ dating someone. A fellow senior at Beacon Hills High School, who happened to be the other co-captain of the basketball team. A boy who was calm and collected, but had a silly, playful side that lit Peter up inside when he’d be allowed to see it. A boy with the bluest, most gorgeous and captivating eyes that Peter had ever seen in his life. A boy named Chris Argent, who happened to come from a very well-known werewolf hunting family.

Despite what Peter’s frequent reckless actions may have suggested, he was not stupid. He knew how dangerous dating Chris could be. He knew how likely it was that everything would blow up in his face. Chris Argent would burn his world to the ground one day, but he could not bring himself to stay away for the life of him. They tried to keep their families out of their relationship by not talking much about the supernatural world. In all eight months that they had been dating, Peter never shifted in front of him. On one hand, he did not want to out himself as a werewolf just yet to him. Not _all_ of the Hales were werewolves, and as long as he pretended to be human, maybe it would prolong the amount of time he had before Chris realized he couldn’t be with him. He did everything in his power to ensure that they were a couple of senior basketball players having a secret gay relationship--which was already enough trouble on it’s own--rather than a werewolf and a werewolf hunter trying to maintain a secret gay relationship that could easily cost each other their lives and families.

Chris was different than his family. Whenever his family saw the Hales, they looked at them with complete disgust--but Chris never did that. Chris knew about Peter’s family before they ever even became friends, and surprisingly, he was on board for more. Peter couldn’t believe it the first time Chris kissed him after practice one day. He never looked at Peter with hatred or disgust. The only look Peter had ever seen Chris give him was one of playfulness and affection.

Until recently, anyway. Over the past month, Chris seemed to be pulling away a bit. He used to sneak into Peter’s room almost every night to rant about how intrusive and controlling his father Gerard was, complain about school stressing him out, or just want to hook up and forget everything that was bothering him. Peter was always more than happy to be a listening ear or a means of distraction. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Chris was different. He stopped coming by as often. He started having a lot more “homework” and “family dinners”. Peter would have assumed that Chris' family was suspecting them together and preventing him from seeing him, if he didn’t start smelling an awful lot like lavender perfume.

_And you're about to walk in that door and say some shit you said before  
_ _You're getting so repetitive  
_ _I'm finishing your sentences  
_ _But not in a good way_

Peter heard a rustling outside his bedroom window and looked out to see Chris Argent running towards the house. He came to a stop outside the window pane and grinned, motioning for him to open it. Peter couldn’t help but return the smile as he unlocked the window to tug his boyfriend into his room.

“Sorry I’m late, Pete. God, I missed you.” Chris whispered, running his hands up Peter’s bare chest and around to the back of his hair, before pulling him in for a chaste kiss. As soon as Chris was on him, the smell hit him in the face: lavender. He grabbed his boyfriend’s arms and gently pried him off.

“You weren’t answering your phone.” Peter told him, moving away to sit on the bed. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for hours.”

“It was a family dinner thing. You know how my family is--they would have tried to look over my shoulder or something if I took my phone out at the table. You know how annoying they are...and I couldn’t just say 'my secret boyfriend is waiting for me to come to his werewolf-infested house, so I gotta go'.”

“ _Infested_.” Peter scoffed, getting under the covers. “You sound like Gerard.”

“Babe, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” Chris sighed, closing the window and sitting beside him on the bed. He leaned into his side and kissed the side of his neck. “I love you. You know that.”

“You smell like lavender perfume again.” Peter pointed out, his voice quiet and hesitant, as if he didn’t want to bring it up.

“Ugh, this again?” Chris groaned, crawling over to what had become his side of the bed over the past eight months. “I already told you why--my mom switched our whole family to that stupid vegan, moisturizing shampoo that she swears will make our hair never go grey or something.”

Peter could hear his heartbeat speed up slightly, but didn’t say anything further about it. 

“I think gray would look good on you. You’re going to age well--I can tell.”

“Well...lucky you then, huh? That means I’ll just keep looking better for you.”

"Lucky me."

_I kinda like it when you hurt me  
_ _I stopped believing all your stories  
_ _But I'd rather hear you lie than hear you say goodbye to me_

Chris stripped his shirt off and threw it to the ground as Peter got under the covers and rolled close to him.

“Why do I feel like you’re always trying to catch me in a lie lately?” Chris asked him, sliding his hand onto the side of Peter’s ribs and moving down to trace shapes along his hip above the waistband of the werewolf’s boxers.

“ _Are_ you?” Peter challenged, looking him in the eye. “Lying to me, I mean,”

“Never.” Chris assured him, closing the space between them to press open-mouthed kisses along Peter’s jaw and down the side of his neck. “I could never lie to you. I love you.”

Peter heard the way his heart sped up again as he spoke, but couldn’t bring himself to pull away this time. He may have just been desperate, but he was pretty sure his heart rate went back to normal by the time he told him he loved him. He held onto that and tried to convince himself that as long as Chris loved him, nothing else really mattered, right? It’s not like Peter was a Saint. It’s not like he had never lied before. Chris loved him. That was all that mattered. 

If he cheated, maybe he would stop. If he really loved Peter, then he would realize that some random flower-smelling chick could never amount to what Peter was. They could survive this. Peter hoped with everything in himself that they could survive this.

Chris crashed his lips against Peter’s and pulled him on top of him. Their bodies fit against each other perfectly--the way they always did, as if they were made to be laid against each other. Peter’s forearms rested on either side of Chris’ head, holding himself up a little so that he wouldn’t totally crush his slightly smaller boyfriend. Chris’ arms wrapped around his back and his nails dug slightly into his skin, eliciting a pleasured hum from the boy on top of him.

“I love you, too.” Peter whispered against his lips. Although the perfume fragrance was present, Peter could easily smell Chris’ scent. It took over all of his senses and calmed him in a way he could never explain to someone who didn’t have an anchor. Chris’ mere presence made Peter want to be a better person. He didn’t think he could ever lie to him...ever hurt him...and he definitely couldn't leave him.

Chris was not aware that he was Peter’s anchor, and that was because Peter didn’t want him to know. Not yet. For werewolves, anchors were different than just love. You can fall in love a thousand times, but an anchor...that was different. Chris made him feel tethered to his humanity, even when his inner beast was fighting to take control, and tamed his werewolf side completely. Every time he started losing control, the simple thought of the other boy could instantly bring him down to a manageable level. He planned on telling Chris at some point, but that would have to wait until they had the official ‘I’m a werewolf’ conversation, and Peter wasn’t ready for that. Not to mention, he wasn’t sure he was ready for Chris to know how much power he really had over him.

_So if you're gonna lie, do it in my bed  
_ _If you're gonna lie, make it worth it  
_ _You cut me down, you cut me deep_

“As much as I love feeling you on top of me, I’m kinda tired.” Chris mumbled into his neck.

“Good thing we’re in a bed then, huh, Sweetheart?” Peter said, rolling off of the boy and laying on his side once again, facing him. He caressed Chris’ face and the other boy grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles.

“Sleep with me?” Chris asked, setting his cell phone onto the nightstand and burying his face into the pillow to get comfortable.

“No, I thought I’d just watch you sleep. Gotta keep you safe from that werewolf infestation.”

“Peter.” Chris chuckled, playfully punching his chest and causing him to fall onto his back. “I’m sleeping. If a werewolf breaks in, wake me up.”

“Will do.”

Peter stared at his dark ceiling for a while, his mind way too loud to have any chance of falling asleep. Chris’ breathing had slowed and evened out within a few minutes and Peter couldn’t help but feel at peace listening to him sleep beside him. He always found himself sleeping best when Chris slept over, because he knew he was there to protect him. There were some nights when they slept apart, that Peter had to take his motorcycle and drive by the Argent household just to make sure his boyfriend was okay. Chris was all Peter could think about most of the time.

He glanced over at the phone sitting on the nightstand and took a deep breath. _No, he could not do that._

He turned onto his stomach and buried his face in the blankets, trying to will his mind to slow down so he could go to sleep, but Chris had come over with the awful scent of that girl's perfume so many times recently that Peter’s _bed_ was starting to smell a bit like lavender.

He carefully sat up and looked down at his boyfriend to make sure he was definitely unconscious, before reaching over and picking up his cell phone. His lock screen picture was the same as it had been since they’d gotten together: the basketball team picture from the year prior, with all of the team members dressed out in their uniforms. Peter and Chris stood in the center of the lineup, holding a basketball up together. Who knew being team co-captains would bring about such cute couples photos? It was the perfect excuse to have each other on their phone screens without drawing attention to their secret relationship.

Peter typed in the passcode Chris had told him a few weeks prior, _PHale13_ , and felt guilt spread through his stomach as the phone unlocked. He figured he had already come this far, so he might as well go all the way. He opened the ‘messages’ app and saw his most recent conversation was with a _Victoria_. His own contact was displayed under it, with the blue dot by his name signaling seven unread messages. He opened the chat with Victoria and momentarily felt like his breath was knocked out of him.

_You say you're out with family, but you're with her tonight  
_ _I checked your location, good fuckin' try  
_ _I don't say a word, I don't wanna fight  
_ _By loving you, I'm losing me every night_

Peter scrolled up and realized that there must have been _thousands_ of texts between the two of them, dating back several months. He put his finger on the screen to stop the scroll when he caught sight of his name.

**Victoria : _Come over tonight?_**

**Chris : _Sorry, I can’t._**

**Victoria : _Your dad wouldn’t mind.  
He and my dad are practically arranging our wedding lol._**

**Chris : _I mean I have to go to Peter’s house tonight.  
_** **_I told him I would._ **

**Victoria : _Ugh, how much longer is your dad making  
you watch him for? It's so annoying sharing you with that mutt._**

**Chris : _Not sure; maybe a couple more months?  
I think if I keep it up, he’ll trust me enough to   
shift in front of me._**

**Victoria : _You haven’t gotten him to shift in  
_** **_front of you yet?! You’ve been together so long now.  
What are you waiting for?_ **

**Chris : _I don’t want to push him into it, Vic.  
I'd rather not be that much of an ass._**

**Victoria : _He’s a werewolf, Chris. Don’t tell me  
you still care about him. You told your dad you didn’t._**

**Chris : _I don’t._**

**Victoria : _You know if you do, your dad is gonna kill you both._**

**Chris : _I know; he’s just a werewolf--how could you actually  
think I care about a dog? I know my responsibility.   
_** **_I just want him to shift and show me his eye color  
without trying to force him to and risk getting   
attacked or something._ **

**Victoria : _Why does his eye color even matter?_**

**Chris : _You know why._**

**Victoria : _Right, the code. So, what? If his eyes are blue,  
you’re gonna kill him or something?_**

**Chris : _No. Gerard just wants to know._**

**Victoria : _Blue means he killed someone. That  
means the code will let your dad kill him.   
Why do you think he wants to know?_**

**Chris : _We don’t know if they’re blue, okay?  
I gotta go now._**

**Victoria : _I love you, Chris. I’ll see you tomorrow at dinner?_**

**Chris : _Yeah. I love you, too. By_** **e.**

Peter cancelled out of the ‘messages’ app and turned the phone screen off, not wanting to see any more. He felt tears pool in his eyes and wiped them away with the palms of his hands before they had the chance to run down his cheeks.

He wasn’t just cheating on him. He was using him. He was _spying_ on him.

Part of Peter wanted to take the phone and hit him in the face with it to wake him up. Confront him on everything. Throw him out the window. Never speak to him again. But...he couldn’t. He looked down at him and even with the hateful tears blurring his vision, he couldn’t help but feel affection towards Chris. He always heard from people that love made you weak, but he never understood why until now.

He knew that despite those text messages, he would let Chris into his room the next night if he showed up at his window. He knew that he wouldn’t be the one to pull the plug on their relationship. No matter how much he felt as if he was suffocating and his stomach was churning as his heart and brain tried to accept the situation, he couldn’t help but reason that Chris still seemed to care about him. He could have asked him to shift in front of him, but he didn’t. And it was bullshit that he said he might get attacked--Chris had never let off chemosignals that he was scared of him in their entire relationship. He didn’t seem in a hurry to complete the task Gerard had given him. Plus, that Victoria girl seemed to suspect that he still had feelings for him, which had to mean that he did, right?

He thought back to the way his heart rate stayed constant when he told him that he loved him earlier and he wondered if it was like that when he told Victoria. He wondered if he really loved her the way he told her he did, or if he was lying to her. To himself.

He knew he shouldn’t have been trying to justify Chris’ actions, but he couldn’t help it. Yeah, he was betraying him in every way, but...Gerard had to be forcing his hand, right? Victoria had to be forcing him. Chris Argent wasn’t like his family--he couldn’t be doing this to Peter.

But he was. And Peter wasn’t sure how to handle that.

Chris stirred a bit and moved to cuddle against Peter, causing the distraught boy to quickly reach over and set his phone on the nightstand again, before slinking down into the covers. Chris immediately crawled partially over Peter and rested his head in the crook of his neck, with half of his torso across Peter’s chest. Peter rubbed his back and closed his eyes, willing the tears to stop and his breathing to even back out before it woke him up.

_So if you're gonna lie, do it in my bed_

_If you're gonna lie, make it worth it_

**Author's Note:**

> (I know that phones like this wouldn't have existed when they were in high school, but we are ~pretending~)
> 
> What did you guys think? Kudos/Comments are super appreciated <3
> 
> [My headcannon is that Peter and Chris dated in high school and were in love, but then Chris' family forced them apart and Peter was heartbroken and left without an anchor, so he was weakened. Then the fire happened because of the Argents (Kate) and he grew hateful in his coma, so when he woke up, he went on a quest to gain power and feel less weak. Then my headcannon goes that Peter and Chris end up talking again when they are older (around season 2, when Peter is resurrected) and they get together again because Peter never stopped loving him and Chris is done being pushed around by his father.]


End file.
